ABSTRACT
As noted previously, the ‘prodrome’ is a term used in clinical medicine to refer to the early symptoms and signs that a person experiences before the full-blown syndrome of an illness becomes evident. We have previously used the example of the disease measles to illustrate this point. Measles is characterized by a three to four day prodromal period of fever, cough, coryza and conjunctivitis, followed by the development of the distinctive rash (Yung et al 2001). This is a neat example, with a clear-cut onset and offset of the prodrome and the definitive disorder itself.
